College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Community Sustainability

Dr. Robert Richardson is an ecological economist and former Professor at Michigan State University with interests in the study of the environment and development, particularly the contribution of ecosystem services to socioeconomic well-being. He has used a variety of methods from the behavioral and social sciences to study decision-making about the use of natural resources and the values of ecosystem services. He has conducted research related to agricultural-environmental linkages, household food security, energy security, and tradeoffs in decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia, as well as in the USA. His research has been supported by funding from sources including the National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. His work has been published in Ecological Economics, Agricultural Systems, and World Development, among other journals.

Dr. Richardson is Past-President of the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics, and a member of the International Society for Ecological Economics. He is an affiliate faculty member with MSU's Environmental Science and Policy Program and the African Studies Center. He is a former member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and former Chairperson of the Sustainable and Healthy Communities subcommittee.

Google Scholar Profile

Instructional Activities:

• CSUS 824 - Sustainable Development: Measuring Socioeconomic Well Being
• CSUS 300 - Theoretical Foundations of Sustainability
• CSUS 310 - History of Environmental Thought and Sustainability

Recent selected publications:

• Olabisi, M., L. Schmitt Olabisi, and R. B. Richardson. (2024). Renewable energy finance in Africa as a global leverage point. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 210: 115233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2024.115233.
• Zulu, L. C., J. F. Kamoto, I. D. S. Djenontin, C. B. L. Jumbe, I. Pangapanga-Phiri, R B. Richardson, M. Subakanya, P. Nzokou, and S. D. Makungwa. (2024). Promoting cleaner cooking technologies in urban Malawi: Assessing the acceptance of pellet-fed gasifier cookstoves from a pilot targeted distribution model. Energy for Sustainable Development 83: 101570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2024.101570.
• Silberg, T. R., R. B. Richardson, C. P. Borges, L. K. Schmitt Olabisi, M. C. Lopez, M Grisotti, V. Chimonyo, B. B. Basso, and K. B. Renner (2024). Technology adoption and weed emergence dynamics: Social ecological modeling for maize-legume systems across Africa. Ecology and Society 29(1): 2. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14667-290102.
• Djenontin, I. N. S., L. C. Zulu, and R. B. Richardson. (2022). Smallholder farmers and forest landscape restoration in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Central Malawi. Land Use Policy 122: 106345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106345.
• Olabisi, M., R. B. Richardson, and A. O. Adelaja. (2022). The next global crisis: Africa's renewable energy financing gap. Climate and Development 15(26): 501-508. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2022.2113022.
• Olabisi, M. and R. B. Richardson. (2022). Why the poor pay higher energy prices: Evidence from Tanzania. World Development Perspectives 26: 100414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2022.100414.
• Richardson, R. B., L. Schmitt Olabisi, K. B. Waldman, N. Sakana, and N. G. Brugnone. (2021). Modeling interventions to reduce deforestation in Zambia. Agricultural Systems 194: 103263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103263.
• Elegbede, O., J. Kerr, R. Richardson, and A. Sanou. (2021). Using a choice experiment to understand preferences for off-grid solar electricity attributes: The case of Nigerian households. Energy for Sustainable Development 60: 33-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2020.12.001.
• Vroegindewey, R., R. B. Richardson, D. L. Ortega, and V. Theriault. (2021). Consumer and retailer preferences for local dairy products: Evidence from stacked choice experiments in urban Mali. Food Policy 103: 102106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102106.
• Richardson, R. B. (2021). The role of tourism in sustainable development. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.387.
• Richardson, R. B. and S. Nicholls. (2021). Characterizing the cultural ecosystem services of coastal sand dunes. Journal of Great Lakes Research 47(2): 546-551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2021.01.008.
• Silberg, T. R., K. Renner, L. S. Olabisi, R. B. Richardson, V. G. P. Chimonyo, M. Uriona-Maldonado, B. B. Basso, and C. Mwale. (2021). Modeling smallholder agricultural systems to manage Striga in the semi-arid tropics. Agricultural Systems 187: 103008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.103008.
• Vroegindewey, R., R. B. Richardson, K. Chung, V. Theriault and D. L. Ortega. (2021). Competitive advantage and processor demand for local and imported food ingredients: Analysis from an urban dairy market in West Africa. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies 11(2): 140-159. http://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-06-2020-0133.
• Laituri, M., R. B. Richardson, L. V. Cline, S. Viscuso, and L. Schwartz. (2021). COVID-19’s second-order impacts on global vulnerable urban areas. Annals of GIS 28(4): 479–490. (2023 Most Downloaded Paper Award.) https://doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2021.1954087.
• Silberg, T. R., R. B. Richardson, and M. C. Lopez. (2020). Maize farmer preferences for intercropping systems to reduce Striga in Malawi. Food Security 12(2): 269-283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01013-2.

Editorial boards:

• Environmental Management
• Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research
• Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy

Education

• Ph.D., Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, 2002
• M.B.A., New York University, 1995
• B.S., Tulane University, 1989

Dr. Richardson's curriculum vitae